Reflexion, A Spiritual Community

I’m not convinced we’ve ever truly understood Jesus At least not as deeply or fully as he intended - not “as deeply,” because we tend to stay on the surface • we read the words and verses without penetrating their depth • we grab at interpretations that make immediate sense ◦ and we settle for simplistic "commentary" explanations - I don’t think Jesus taught in riddles – sometimes, perhaps • he did not teach in a secret code that required deciphering • but it's possible that his intent ...

I’ll finish reading the verse in a moment, but first we will pause here - every morning when I open my Bible, I don’t jump into it • but at the entrance to the Scriptures, I take a moment to slow my breath, and focus my attention ◦ I bring awareness to God’s presence and let myself hear him say, “at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you to speak to you there" (Ex. 29:42) • so before I even begin reading, I’m already listening to God ◦ and there ...

Friday morning, near the end of a long walk,I passed by a mother and her toddler son - he was on a small four-wheel bike, perfectly fitted to him • he was poised to move from asphalt to a dirt slope ◦ I said, “Looks like you’re about to go off-roading,” ◦ more for his mom’s sake than his • he looked at me with the most engaging smile ◦ it was the loveliest moment of my morning - I kept walking, but he didn’t take his eyes off of me • he turned his head as I passed, ◦ so I had to walk backward...

As we make our way back into Hosea this morning, Let’s remember the passion running through the entire book - it isn’t what we’re likely to feel when reading the bare words • what it sounds like, is the ranting of an enraged deity ◦ but that is not the correct tone of voice • if God were like one of the pagan deities of mid mid-east or Greece, ◦ he wouldn’t bother to rage at his rebellious people, ◦ he would just annihilate them - this prophetic book, in fact, is the message of a wounded love...

Imagine you're walking through an art gallery, and standing nearby is the artist whose work you admiring. So you point to an object in one corner of an especially beautiful painting, and ask the artist, "Why did you put this right here? What does it mean?" The artist--if a true artist answers, "Well, if I could explain it, I would not have had to paint it." You would get a similar answer from a poet, a composer, a sculpture, and most any other artist. "If I could explain it, I would not have ...

We are returning to Hosea this morning The prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel – a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery, • but prostituting themselves with other gods • you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea ◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners ◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations – Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahwe...

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read 1 and 2 Timothy Still, it was only a few years ago that two words snagged me - here in this passage, Paul refers to the Hebrew Scriptures as “the sacred writings” • I had always believed this regarding the Bible, but never in those precise words • the effect they had was to motivate me to meditate on them ◦ eventually, I spent nine weeks sharing with you what I learned - I’ve decided to tell you what these have done worked in my life since then • wh...

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10 Intro: So here we are again, with the angels and the shepherds I chose to read only these three verses, because the story is so well known - but w...

The Liturgical Calendar is a sequence of seasons, that organizes the year around the life of Jesus. Liturgical seasons Invite us to take our place in the great drama of the Gospel To take the time to experience God’s love and redemption through Spiritual rhythms and traditions shared across generations and cultures and faith communities. Practicing the liturgical calendar allows a lot of room for variety of expression, and differences between church traditions, b...

I think you most likely know that I love the Scriptures The more I read them, the more I get from them, - and the deeper I go, the richer my experience • however, the journey is not always pleasant, and ◦ some parts of the Bible are not as easy to digest as others ◦ Hosea is not one of my favorite books • still, there are verses in it that are among my favorites ◦ other than those few, working my way through Hosea, is like crawling through a long, dark tunnel ◦ but the Bible doesn’t have to p...

Years ago, I was engaged in a conversation with two friends In making a point, one of them quoted a famous evangelist, “People change–but not that much” - okay–so I reacted immediately, but kept my mouth shut • this same person stood in front of large crowds, ◦ promising them that Jesus would transform their lives ◦ that in Christ, they would become a new creation • that is the essence of the evangelical message ◦ it’s what we’ve been singing for the past 250 years “I once was lost, but now I...

Since it has been a couple of weeks, let me remind you . . . The book of Hosea is a love story – but not like a romance novel - it was never meant to entertain • God’s message came to Israel in a graphic illustration, ◦ played out in the life of his prophet • first, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute ◦ the point was to give Israel a living re-enactment of ◦ their history with God – deserting him for another god or other gods - Hosea and his wife had three children who were placed onto the s...

Kelsey Kappauf speaking at Reflexion

If what I read doesn’t match your Bible, there are two reasons First, I’m reading from Robert Alter’s translation of the Old Testament – so obviously that is different from other standard translations • but another reason is that Alter worked from the Hebrew Bible, ◦ and in that version, chapter 1 has only nine verses ◦ in our English Bibles there are eleven verses in chapter 1 • so those two verses missing in chapter 1 are the beginning of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible (If you didn’t g...

Before we began Galatians, I asked for recommendations as to where in scripture to go next A trusted friend suggested we venture through the minor prophets - “minor” because they are relatively short compared to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel • I hesitated for awhile, then procrastinated, finally hoping to dodge The Dozen prophets at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures • even though the longest of them is only fourteen chapters and shortest is only one chapter, ◦ they still require as much study ...

The Galatians were coming to the end of Paul’s letter, And suddenly the handwriting was different – instead of the well-formed characters of a professional scribe, • the printed letters were large and scribbled ◦ this shift was certain to grab their attention ◦ like changing the “font” of a sentence in a document to all upper case or bold print • but why did Paul insist on writing this last bit with his “own hand”? ◦ perhaps this is how he usually signed off (as many commentaries point out) “...

Years ago, and in another life, I had a feisty personal assistant Although she is genuinely compassionate, she had a favorite line: “Get over yourself” - I think that held her together through a hard and complicated season of her life • she said it to herself, to he friends, to people who called the church office for help, ◦ and more than once she said it to me–her boss • but she never said it when I didn’t need to hear it ◦ Paul’s next lesson in this letter to the Galatians is, “Get over you...

I assume most of us are familiar with The Message Bible One of the more popular versions, and easiest to understand – Eugene Peterson did not set out to write a new translation • beginning in early 1980’s the U.S. economy went into a slump and mortgage interest rates were rapidly climbing ◦ people in his church were feeling the pinch, and reacting in the same way as people in town Peterson, “Paranoia infected the small talk I would overhear on street corners and in barbershops. To my di...

If you ever decide to read the Bible all the way through, At some point, you will find yourself struggling to understand it – even if you’ve been a believer for a long time and read it before (or read a kiddie version) • a passage will confuse you, trouble, or just seem wrong ◦ I’m fortunate to have many helpful resources • however, when even those study aids leave me with questions ◦ then I resort to creative thought experiments; for instance, I ask, “what if” ◦ what if this were meant to fr...

For the last month or two, I’ve noticed a trend – people are using a “Jesus image” in a variety of video posts • like a famous celebrity, he’s immediately recognizable ◦ there’s the trademark long hair and beard, the robe, and sandals ◦ his image is used to promote an ideal, or to criticize, ridicule, or make fun of something • three observations immediately come to mind: ◦ first, the image is used for propaganda purposes ◦ second, they’re all impersonators third, not one of these chara...